A Rose for Emily
Andrea Aviles
English 3
A Rose for Emily
In his short story “A Rose for Emily,” the author William Faulkner tells about the actions of Emily Grierson, a woman who poisons Homer, the man she wanted to marry her, and seals his corpse into an upstairs room. Emily was devastated after her father’s death and is an object of piety to the townspeople. Emily has a clingy relationship with her father. Whenever he dies she is unable to admit that he has died. She clings to the affectionate figure. The reject and control became the only form of love she could show.
Homer Barron is a man who does not believe in marriage. Homer is Miss Emily’s first real lover who is a victim of her plans to keep him by her side. Emily did not want to lose Homer and so she poisoned him with rat poisoning. Whenever Emily ordered a silver toilet set with Homer’s initials, the town talked about a marriage occurred in the future for the couple. Her cousins came before Homer went to visit her and they stay with her for a couple of days. After their departure, Homer is seen entering Emily’s house and never seen again.
After that Emily rarely comes out of her house. Emily is never seen out of the house and no one is heard of her until her death at age seventy-four. After Emily’s death, her body is laid out in the parlor for the townspeople to attend the service. A while has passed after Emily’s death and the townspeople enter Miss Emily’s house to find a locked room. They break it down to see that Homer’s body is laid on a bed. It is discovered that Emily slept with the dead body by her side. In the room were many marriage items and a suit laid out.
Emily was afraid of change and didn’t want to let go of the men in her life. She had attachment issues and didn’t want to let go of them. She was an outsider and didn’t appeal to the townspeople the way Homer did.